How do I help my mother who think/says she has no memory issues?
Her short term memory is very poor, and now her long term memory is being affected? Any insight will be appreciated.

Hello Seiko! Sorry to hear about your Mom's memory issues. We are going through a simliar situation w/my MIL right now. Her short term memory is gone, she can recall certain things from her past, but is now losing that, although she still knows us. I have noticed that she seems more childlike now, too.

It's a very very hard thing to watch a loved one lose what we all hold so dear~ our memories. My MIL is on Aricept, but she didn't start taking it until she was in a more moderate stage of Alzheimer's. She also didn't think she had memory problems, so I talked to her Dr the day before she had an appt, addressed her memory issues w/him and he put her on meds. I fear it wasn't in time to help much, but at least I tried.

I'd suggest talking to her Dr; my MIL still doesn't understand that she has AD, so to her it was just another pill to take. Good luck and I truly hope you can get some help for your Mother. It is just really hard, I know!

Take care and keep us posted.

Thank you.
She is in charge of her own med, so I am not sure how to add an extra one without her knowledge.
She has a hard time remembering which ones are the vitamins, and which ones are the prescribed.

Hi seiko,

What about doing things with her to strengthen her memory?

Cross word puzzles, Scrabble, Trivia type of games, Jeopardy, things to keep her mind working.

I have suggested the same thing but she does not like puzzles.

Mom spends most of her time looking for her lost items.
The irony of it all is she hides her things...

i have seen my memory slipping too. it's worse in my dad. be sure to write down her favorite stories in a journal so they are not lost. i get my dad to dictate stories sometimes. i type them up and ask him to proofread. i am sure my descendants will be fascinated.

you can get a neuropsychologist to establish a baseline. if you test later you can see if the progression is slow and natural or rapid. you can also compare memory vs problem solving.

Hi, this was a tough one for us...the meds! Oh how she would not give up control! We all just needed to mind our own business! HA, Almost her last words.....

We listened to her, she sounded like mom, she certainly seemed like she had it under control. But, duhhhhhh...In hind-site, WE should have known.

She went to sleep one day which turned into 2 weeks in ICU. No known cause? Not a stroke...most likely an overdose or mixed doses of meds.

Now I have complete control, she bit$#@...but so would a child if you took his stuff away from them also. Her memory is bad! I can give her a pain pill & 2 seconds later SWEAR I did not. She would have taken another if she had them.....

I hope my story can help you. I know it's hard. But you would be doing the right thing because you know in your heart it's best for her.

My stepmom donated to a charity - St Joseph's Indian School. Whenever she could not find things she prayed to st joseph and it worked.

once they went on a trip and could not find their passports. turns out she hid them in the pressure cooker.

what kinds of things does she like? as long as you can find something that challenges her it is probably good brain exercise.